Hop-On, Hop-Off

Welcome the Coming
Speed the Parting Guest
......Inscription, Union Station,
......Washington, D.C.

State and territorial flags snap out
stars, bison, eagles, and stripes stream
in the spring breeze, red open-topped
double-deck bus drives by with wind-
battered tourists, hop-on, hop-off.

Atop the globe on Columbus's marble
monument, a proud male pigeon struts
for a female, white tail dragging,
hop-on, hop-off: so the world turns.

Time to light a cigar before my train; set
against the sky, the statue of Freedom
in eagle headdress on the Capitol dome, pink
smudge of cherry blossoms amid greening oaks;
a black kid skateboards past a D.C. Duck.

Christopher T. George



American Centurions



I take shelter under the arcade
of Union Station; light snow slants
in and wets my face. Above the station

doors stand marble centurions, mailed
and armored, fit for Valhalla with winged
helmets. In a dusky window I see

a Hispanic busboy spread a crisp white
table cloth in the America Restaurant.
Later, I sip a Scotch and water,

my train hurtles into the heartland.
I watch snow cover rough pasture
and bison bend their backs

to tufts of straw, chowing down
as if it's their final meal.

Christopher T. George



Fireflies on the Moon

I'm dropped by the curb by Union Station this gray afternoon
below half-mast state flags, limp in April light, lowered
for the college students killed in the latest gun tragedy;

three Stars and Stripes in front of the station hug
their staffs. I stroll toward the flagstaffs:
father, son, and ghost, notice as the flags lift,
ragged red strips of bunting fluttering:

mementoes of the strength of yesterday's Nor'Easter;
the white-painted poles stand rusted, scarred.
The gunman blew his own face off: hard

for authorities to identify the tortured writer.
A presidential candidate informs us we have no
"Plan B" to exit the civil war in Iraq: we fight on.

Two fireflies enter a craft that flies to the moon.
The astronauts open the hatch, the fireflies escape
unnoticed, begin to hover in front of them.

The fireflies' light is captured in photographs
but lack of oxygen causes the fireflies to die.
NASA announces there are aliens on the moon.

Christopher T. George

I owe a debt to Pradeep’s Weblog for the story of the fireflies on the moon. The concept of fireflies on the moon also appears on a mathematical site.